Two women and a man have been arrested in connection with a new coronavirus pass fraud case, and could be responsible for tens of thousands of fake QR codes, RTL Nieuws has reported.

The three were based at Schiphol airport and rented in by the regional health board via a staffing agency. They had access to the system to create QR codes which can be downloaded by people who have either had coronavirus recently, are fully vaccinated or have had a negative test.

One of the three is also suspected of passing on her login details to third parties so they too could access the system, RTL said.

The false QR codes were offered for sale via various channels and sold for hundreds or even thousands of euros.

RTL says the fraud came to light following an investigation by health ministry officials.

Sources told the broadcaster that the investigators were able to map where the QR code system was accessed and that security has since been improved.

More arrests

Several people have been arrested in connection with the trade in fraudulent QR codes since their use became more widespread, but this is the biggest case to date.

Earlier this month, three women who worked at a family doctor’s practice in Amsterdam were picked up. They are said to have accepted payments of between €500 and €1,000 to register people as having been vaccinated, even though they had not had a jab.

And last month, the Dutch health ministry launched an investigation into how cyber criminals managed to create a valid CoronaCheck app code in the name of Adolf Hitler.

In September, a 20-year-old man from Alphen aan den Rijn was arrested and several staff at local health service offices were suspended from duty on suspicion of falsifying vaccination codes.